    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
    [October 15, 2004]
    [Pages 2527-2534]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
    October 15, 2004

        The President. It is great--thank you all. It is great to be back in
    Iowa. This isn't the first time we've been here. [Laughter] It's not
    going to be our last, either. I want to thank you for putting up the
    signs and doing the hard work. I want to thank you for what you're going
    to do over the next couple of weeks, and that is turn out the vote.
    There's no doubt in my mind, with your help, we will carry Iowa and win
    a great victory on the 2d of November.
        And I just told the chairman--I call him the chairman. You call him
    Chuck. [Laughter] I said, ``I got a job
    for him over the next 4 years.'' He said, ``What's that?'' I said,
    ``Well, get those lawn mowers cranked up; there's a lot of grass on the
    South Lawn.''
        And tell your friends and neighbors, if they want a safer America, a
    stronger America, and a better America, to put me and Dick
    Cheney back in office.
        The President. I'm pleased----
        Audience member. [Inaudible]
        The President. I'm pleased that Laura is
    traveling with me today. She is--we were in Las Vegas yesterday, and
    there was an important conference. The AARP was having a convention, and
    they said, ``Send your best speaker over.'' So I went to the rally, and
    Laura went to the AARP. [Laughter] People have come to know her like I
    know her. She's warm. She's compassionate. She's a strong woman. She is
    a great First Lady.
        I'm proud of my runningmate. Dick Cheney is
    doing a fine job. In the debate the other night, I admit he didn't have
    the waviest hair. [Laughter] I didn't pick him because of his hairdo. I
    picked him because of his experience, his judgment, and he's getting the
    job done for the American people.
        I appreciate working with the chairman. He always talks about Iowa.
    Chuck Grassley is a good friend. He's a
    really good United States Senator. And so is your Congressman, Jim
    Leach. I appreciate Jim. What a decent and
    honorable man Jim Leach is. And I'm proud that the chairman of the
    Budget Committee in the House of Representatives, Jim Nussle, is with us as well.
        I want to thank the grassroots activists, all the people who are
    doing all the hard work. You never get thanked enough, and so here's my
    chance to thank you before election day. Keep putting up the signs. Keep
    making the phone calls. Turn out the vote, and we will win.
        I enjoyed our debates. I enjoyed standing up there with my
    opponent, talking about our differences, and
    we have big differences. We have very different records and different
    plans for the future. My record is one of reforming education, of
    lowering taxes, of providing prescription drug coverage for seniors, for
    improving homeland protections, and for waging an aggressive war against
    the ideologues of hate. The Senator's record is 20 years of out-of-the-
    mainstream votes without many significant reforms or results to show for
    those 20 years. The records are important because our country faces many
    challenges, and the next President must recognize the need for reform
    and must be able to lead to achieve them.
        On issue after issue, from jobs to health care to the need to
    strengthen Social Security, Senator Kerry's
    policies fail to recognize the changing realities of today's world and
    the need for fundamental reforms. In our final debate, when I talked
    about the vital link between education and jobs, the Senator didn't seem
    to get it. He said I switched away from jobs and started talking about
    education. No, good jobs start with good education. At a time when most
    new jobs require at least 2 years of college, I understand that one of
    the best ways to

    [[Page 2528]]

    keep jobs in America is to make sure our workforce is educated, the most
    highly skilled, the most creative, and the most innovative in the world.
    That's how we create jobs here in America.
        When it comes to health care, once again, the other night, with a
    straight face--[laughter]--the Senator said
    his health care was not a Government plan.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. I could barely contain myself. Twenty-two million new
    people would enroll in a Government program under his plan, the largest expansion of Government health care
    ever. Eighty percent of the newly insured would be placed on a
    Government program like Medicaid. He claims his plan would help small
    businesses. Yet studies conducted by people who understand small
    businesses concluded that his plan is an overpriced albatross that would
    saddle small businesses with 225 new mandates.
        I have a different view. We'll work to make sure health care is
    available and affordable. We'll help our small businesses. The decisions
    will be made by doctors and patients, not by officials in Washington,
    DC.
        The Senator said about Social Security,
    if, later on, after a period of time, we find that Social Security is in
    trouble, then he'll call a meeting of experts. [Laughter] See, it seems
    that he likes meetings. [Laughter] Younger workers understandably worry
    whether Social Security will be there when they need it. We have plans
    for the future. We will solve problems before they--before it's too
    late. As I said in the debate the other night, our seniors have nothing
    to worry about when it comes to their Social Security check. You might
    remember the 2000 campaign, and those ads said, ``If George W. gets in,
    you're not going to get your check.'' You got your checks. You will
    continue to get your check.
        But for the sake of our children and our grandchildren, we must
    confront the Social Security problem now. Younger workers must be able
    to take some of their own payroll taxes and set up a personal savings
    account that will earn better interest, an account they can call their
    own.
        The last few years, the people have gotten to know me. They know my
    blunt way of speaking. I get that from Mom.
    [Laughter] They know I sometimes mangle the English language. I get that
    from Dad. [Laughter] Americans also know I
    tell you what I'm going to do and that I keep my word.
        Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
        The President. Thank you all. When I came into office, the stock
    market had been in serious decline for 6 months, and the American
    economy was sliding into a recession. To help families, to get this
    economy growing again, I pledged to reduce taxes. I kept my word.
    Because we acted--and I include the Senator
    and Members of Congress here from Iowa, not all of them but most of
    them--because we acted, the recession was one of the shallowest in
    American history.
        Over the last 3 years, our economy has grown at the rate--at the
    fastest rate of any major industrialized nation. The homeownership rate
    in America is at an alltime high. I remember campaigning in Iowa, and I
    made it clear to the farmers here that I understand a healthy economy
    requires a healthy farm economy. And today, farm and ranch income is up.
    In the past 13 months, we've added more than 1.9 million new jobs. The
    unemployment rate in America is 5.4 percent, lower than the average of
    the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. The unemployment rate in Iowa is
    down to 4.5 percent. This economy is moving forward, and we're not going
    back to the old days of tax and spend.
        Listen, to make sure jobs stay here in America and people can find
    work, America must be the best place in the world to do business. That
    means less regulations on the job creators. That means we've got to do
    something about the frivolous lawsuits

    [[Page 2529]]

    that make it hard for people to expand their businesses.
        To keep jobs here, Congress needs to pass my energy plan. The plan
    encourages conservation. It focuses on renewables like ethanol and
    biodiesel. It encourages new technologies. It encourages clean coal
    technology and increased domestic production. To create jobs here in
    America, we must be less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
        To create jobs, to make sure people can find work, we've got to
    reject economic isolationism. We need to open up markets for Iowa farm
    products, for example. See, America can compete with anybody, anytime,
    anywhere, so long as the playing field is level. To create jobs, we've
    got to be wise about how we spend your money and keep your taxes low.
        My opponent has his own history on the
    economy. In 20 years as a Senator from Massachusetts, he's built the
    record of a Senator from Massachusetts. He has voted to raise taxes 98
    times.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. That's a vote for a tax increase about five times
    every year he has served in the Senate. That
    qualifies as a pattern. [Laughter] He can run from his record, but he
    cannot hide.
        He looked in the camera, and he promised
    not to raise taxes on anyone who earns less than $200,000 a year. The
    problem is, to keep that promise he would have to break almost all of
    his other ones. [Laughter] You see, he's promised about $2.2 trillion in
    new Federal spending. That's trillion with a ``T''. And he says he's
    going to raise the top two brackets, which raises between 600 billion
    and 800 billion. There is a tax gap. That's the difference between what
    he could raise and what he's promised to spend. You can't have it both
    ways. To pay for all his big spending promises he's made, he's going to
    have to raise your taxes.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. But we're not going to let him; we're going to carry Iowa and win the Nation.
        When I came into office, our public schools had been waiting decades
    for hopeful reform. Too many of our children were being shuffled through
    school without learning the basics. I pledged to restore accountability
    to our schools and end the soft bigotry of low expectations. And I kept
    my word. We passed the No Child Left Behind Act, and we're now seeing
    results. Our children are making sustained gains in reading and math. We
    are closing the achievement gap for minority students. We're making
    progress in America, and we will leave no child behind.
        There is more work to be done. We'll fund early intervention
    programs in our high schools to help at-risk students. We'll place a new
    focus on math and science. Over time, we'll require a rigorous
    examination before graduation from high school. By raising performance
    in our high schools and by expanding Pell grants for low- and middle-
    income families, we will help more Americans start their career with a
    college diploma.
        My opponent has a history on education
    issues--a history of almost doing nothing. The Senator has pledged to
    weaken the No Child Left Behind Act. He's proposed diluting the
    accountability standards and looking at measures like teacher attendance
    to judge whether students are learning. His proposals would undermine
    the high standards and accountability we worked hard to pass. We've
    moved beyond the old days of failure and mediocrity and low standards,
    and we're not going back.
        When I came into office, we had a problem with Medicare. See,
    medicine was changing, but Medicare wasn't. For example, Medicare would
    pay tens of thousands of dollars for heart surgery but wouldn't pay a
    dime for the prescription drugs that could prevent the heart surgery
    from being needed in the first place. That didn't make any sense for our
    seniors. It didn't make

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    any sense for the taxpayers. I pledged to bring Republicans and
    Democrats together to strengthen and modernize Medicare for our seniors,
    and I kept my word.
        We strengthened Medicare. Seniors are getting discounts on medicine
    through prescription drug cards. Rural hospitals and doctors are being
    treated fairly in the State of Iowa because of the Medicare law we
    passed. Beginning in 2006, all seniors will be able to get prescription
    drug coverage under Medicare.
        Moving forward on health care, and there's much more to do. We need
    to make health care more available and affordable. We need a safety net
    for those with the greatest needs. I believe in community health
    centers, places where the poor and the indigent can get care. In a new
    term, we'll make sure every poor county in America has a community
    health center. We'll make sure our poor children are fully subscribed in
    our programs for low-income families.
        We'll do more to make sure health care is affordable. Most uninsured
    work for small businesses. Small businesses are having trouble affording
    health care. To help our workers get the health care they need, we
    should allow small businesses to join together so they can buy insurance
    at the same discounts that big businesses are able to do. We will expand
    health savings accounts.
        We will make sure that health care is available and affordable by
    doing something about the junk lawsuits that threaten our docs, running
    up the cost of medicine. By forcing doctors to practice defensive
    medicine, medical lawsuits cost the Government about $28 billion a year.
    They cost our economy anywhere from 60 to 100 billion dollars a year.
    They're driving up insurance premiums, which drives good doctors out of
    practice. You cannot be pro-patient, pro-doctor, and pro-trial-lawyer at
    the same time. You have to choose. My opponent
    made his choice, and he put a personal injury lawyer on the ticket. I made my choice. I'm standing with the
    doctors and patients. I am for medical liability reform--now.
        I believe our country can be an ownership society. You know, there's
    a saying that says, no one ever washes a rental car. [Laughter] There's
    some wisdom in that statement. See, when you own something, you care
    about it. When you own something, you have a vital stake in the future
    of our country. So we encourage entrepreneurship. Every time a small
    business is starting, someone is achieving a part of the American Dream.
    We encourage homeownership in America. I love the fact that more and
    more people are owning up--opening up the front door of their home,
    saying, ``Welcome to my piece of property. Welcome to my home.''
        You know, on issue after issue, from Medicare without choices to
    schools with less accountability to higher taxes, my opponent takes the side of more centralized control and more
    Government.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. There's a word for that attitude. It's called
    liberalism. [Laughter] He dismisses that as a
    label, but he must have seen it differently when he said to a newspaper,
    ``I am a liberal and proud of it.'' He's been rated by the National
    Journal as the most liberal Member of the United States Senate. That's
    hard to do. [Laughter] He's had some serious competition. [Laughter]
        See, I have a different record and a very different philosophy. I
    don't believe in big Government, and I don't believe in indifferent
    Government. I'm a compassionate conservative. I believe in policies that
    empower people to improve their lives. I do not believe in policies that
    try to run people's lives. And so we're helping men and women find the
    skills and tools to prosper in a time of change. We're helping all
    Americans to have a future of dignity and independence. And that is how
    I will continue to lead our country for 4 more years.

    [[Page 2531]]

        Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
        The President. In this time of change, some things do not change,
    the values we try to live by, courage and compassion, reverence and
    integrity. In changing times, we must support the institutions that give
    our lives direction and purpose, our families, our schools, our
    religious congregations. We stand for a culture of life in which every
    person matters and every being counts. We stand for marriage and family,
    which are the foundations of our society. We stand for the appointment
    of Federal judges who know the difference between personal opinion and
    the strict interpretation of the law.
        Listen, my opponent's words on these
    issues are a little muddy, but his record is plenty clear. He says he
    supports the institution of marriage, but he voted against the Defense
    of Marriage Act. He voted against the ban on partial-birth abortion.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. He calls himself--at one
    time in the race called himself the candidate of conservative values.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. But he has described the
    Reagan years as a time of moral darkness.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. There is a mainstream in American politics, and my
    opponent sits on the far left bank. He can
    run, but he cannot hide.
        This election will also determine how America responds to the
    continuing danger of terrorism. The most solemn duty of the American
    President is to protect the American people. If America shows
    uncertainty or weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward
    tragedy. This will not happen on my watch.
        Since that terrible morning of September the 11th, 2001, we've
    fought the terrorists across the Earth, not for pride, not for power,
    but because the lives of our citizens are at stake. Our strategy is
    clear. We're defeating the--we're defending our homeland. We're
    strengthening the intelligence services. We're modernizing and
    transforming our United States military so we can keep the All-Volunteer
    Army an all-volunteer army. We're staying on the offensive. We will
    strike the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at
    home. We will spread liberty and freedom. And we will prevail.
        Our strategy is succeeding. Think about the world as it was about
    3\1/2\ years ago. Afghanistan was the home base of Al Qaida. Pakistan
    was a transit point for terrorist groups. Saudi Arabia was fertile
    ground for terrorist fundraising. Libya was secretly pursuing nuclear
    weapons. Iraq was a dangerous place and a gathering threat. And Al Qaida
    was largely unchallenged as it planned attacks.
        Because we led, Afghanistan is free and is now an ally in the war on
    terror; Pakistan is capturing terrorist leaders; Saudi Arabia is making
    raids and arrests; Libya is dismantling its weapons programs; the army
    of a free Iraq is fighting for freedom; and more than three-quarters of
    Al Qaida's key members and associates have been brought to justice. We
    have led. Many have joined. And America and the world are safer.
        And part of our strategy for a safe and peaceful world is to
    continue to spread freedom, and freedom is on the march. As we worked to
    secure ourselves in Afghanistan and Iraq, 50 million people have been
    freed from the clutches of brutal tyranny--50 million.
        Think about what happened in Afghanistan. I want the youngsters here
    to realize what took place recently in history. It wasn't all that long
    ago that young girls couldn't go to school. Their mothers were pulled in
    the public square and whipped because they wouldn't toe the line to an
    ideology of hate. These people lived in darkness. Because we acted,
    people were freed. Thousands and thousands of people went to vote for a
    President. The first person to vote in the Afghan Presidential election
    was a 19-year-old woman. Freedom is
    powerful. Can you imagine a society

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    that's gone from darkness to light in 3 short years? Freedom is on the
    move.
        There will be elections in Iraq. It hadn't been all that long ago
    that there was torture chambers and mass graves. Then the people will be
    having a chance to vote for President and Prime Minister of that
    country. Free societies in the Middle East will be hopeful societies
    which no longer feed resentments and breed violence for export. Free
    governments in the Middle East will fight the terrorists instead of
    harboring them. Freedom will help us keep the peace. Freedom will make
    America more secure.
        So our mission is clear. We will help Afghanistan and Iraq train
    armies and police so their people can do the hard work of defending
    democracy. We will help them get on the path to stability and democracy
    as quickly as possible, and then our troops will come home with the
    honor they have earned.
        It's a high honor to be the Commander in Chief of such a great
    military. We're a great military because it's full of great people. I'm
    proud of our military. I'm proud of our military families. And I want to
    thank the veterans who are here for having set such a great example for
    those who wear the uniform.
        We will continue to make sure our troops have all the resources they
    need to complete their missions. That's why I went to the United States
    Congress in September of 2003 and asked for $87 billion of supplemental
    funding to support our troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. It was
    really an important piece of legislation. The bipartisan support was
    very strong. As a matter of fact, only 12 United States Senators voted
    against the $87 billion, 2 of whom are my opponent and his runningmate.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. Now, when you're out gathering the vote, when you're
    out convincing people to go to the polls and getting them to be for us,
    remind them of this fact. Only 4 United States Senators voted to
    authorize the use of force and then voted against providing the funding
    necessary to support our troops in combat--only 4 of 100--2 of whom, 50
    percent of whom, are my opponent and his
    runningmate.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. So they asked him why he
    made the vote. You might remember one of the most famous quotes in this
    campaign season. He said, ``I actually did vote for the $87 billion,
    right before I voted against it.''
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. Yes. He's given a lot of
    explanations for that vote since. One of the most interesting ones of
    all, he said, ``Well, the whole thing is a complicated matter.'' There's
    nothing complicated about supporting our troops in combat.
        In our debate, Senator Kerry proposed that
    we should pass a ``global test'' before we defend ourselves.
        Audience members. Boo-o-o!
        The President. The problem with that ``global test'' is that the
    Senator can't ever pass it. I say that because
    in 1990, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution
    supporting action to remove Saddam Hussein
    from Kuwait. The international community was united. Countries
    throughout the world joined the coalition. Yet, even after the United
    Nations' approval, in the United States Senate, Senator Kerry voted
    against authorization for the use of force. He couldn't pass his own
    test.
        In this campaign, you might remember he
    said that removing Saddam Hussein was a
    mistake. He actually said he would have done it differently. He would
    have had the U.N. pass another resolution. [Laughter] If Senator Kerry
    had his way, not only would Saddam Hussein still be in a palace in
    Baghdad, he'd be occupying Kuwait. This world of ours is safer with
    Saddam Hussein sitting in a prison cell.
        We'll continue to build strong alliances. I talked with Tony
    Blair today, on Air Force One. He's a great ally.
    And we'll

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    build on those alliances, and we'll strengthen our coalitions. But I
    will never turn over America's national security decisions to leaders of
    other countries.
        I believe in the transformational power of liberty. Perhaps I can
    explain it to you this way. Prime Minister Koizumi is a good friend of mine and Laura's. But it wasn't all that long ago that we were at war
    with the Japanese. My dad fought in World
    War II. I know dads and granddads of the people out here fought in World
    War II as well, against a sworn enemy. And it was a tough war. It was a
    brutal war, like all war.
        And after World War II, Harry S. Truman, President of the United
    States, believed in the power of liberty to transform an enemy into an
    ally. That's what he believed. So after the war was over, we worked with
    the Japanese to build a democracy. There's a lot of people in this
    country who were skeptical about that action, skeptical about whether an
    enemy could ever become an ally, skeptical about whether Japan would
    become a democracy, skeptical about efforts to help them after they had
    hurt many of our citizens. But people believed. And as a result of that
    belief, today, I sit down with Prime Minister Koizumi, talking about how to keep the peace that we all
    want.
        Someday, a duly elected leader of Iraq will sit down with an
    American President, talking about how to keep the peace in the Middle
    East, and our children and our grandchildren will be better off for it.
        I believe that millions in the Middle East plead in silence for
    freedom. I believe that women in the Middle East want to grow up in a
    free society, and they want to raise their children in a free society. I
    believe that if given a chance, the people of the Middle East will
    embrace the most honorable form of government ever devised by man:
    democracy. I believe all these things because freedom is not America's
    gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each man and
    woman in this world.
        For all Americans, these years in our history will always stand
    apart. There are quiet times in the life of a nation when little is
    expected of its leaders. This isn't one of those times. This is a time
    that requires firm resolve, clear vision, and a deep faith in the values
    that make us a great nation.
        None of us will ever forget that week when one era ended and another
    began. September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin
    Towers. It is a day I will never forget. Workers in hardhats were there
    yelling at me at the top of their lungs, ``Whatever it takes.'' I
    remember a fellow grabbed me by the arm, and he looked me in the eye,
    and he said, ``Do not let me down.'' Ever since that day, I wake up
    every morning thinking about how to better protect our country. I will
    never relent in defending America, whatever it takes.
        Four years ago, as I traveled your great State in the caucuses and
    then in the general election, I pledged that if you honored me with the
    high office of President, I would uphold the honor and the dignity. With
    your help, with your hard work, I will do so for 4 more years.
        God bless. Thank you all for coming. Thank you all for being here.
    On to victory.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:55 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Center. In
    his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United
    Kingdom; and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan.

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